Stability of Navier-Stokes equations with a free surface

Abstract

We consider the viscous incompressible fluids in a three-dimensional horizontally periodic domain bounded below by a fixed smooth boundary and above by a free moving surface. The fluid dynamics are governed by the Navier-Stokes equations with the effect of gravity and surface tension on the free surface. We develop a global well-posedness theory by a nonlinear energy method in low regular Sobolev spaces with several techniques, including: the horizontal energy-dissipation estimates, a new tripled bootstrap argument inspired by Guo and Tice [Arch. Ration. Mech. Anal.(2018)]. Moreover, the solution decays asymptotically to the equilibrium in an exponential rate.